Catherine Barrett

BIM, Ireland’s Seafood Development Agency

On graduating with a M.SC in Oceanography in 1998, Catherine began her career as a Whitefish Quality Technologist in BIM. An M.Sc in Food Safety Management in 2005, provided the backdrop to develop a Seafood Environmental Management System for the Irish Catching Sector which encouraged up to 60% of national fleet capacity to implement onboard . Catherine is also a key member of the BIM team responsible for the current review of BIM’s Responsibly Sourced Seafood Standard (RSS) and its development to deliver on the Sustainability targets set down by Ireland’s Food Wise 2025 and Implementation of Origin Green around targets for raw material certification.

SESSIONS:

Ireland’s strategic Agri-food plan and the role of the state’s certification programme that underpins Ireland’s Seafood Sustainability

ABSTRACT

Food Wise 2025, an Irish government strategic plan for the development of Agri-food sector outlines key actions required to ensure that the seafood sector maximises its contribution to Ireland’s economic growth in an environmentally sustainable manner. “Origin Green”, Ireland’s national sustainability programme, builds on Ireland’s reputation as a green and dynamic supplier across all its food and drinks offering. Reinforcement of Origin Green in the seafood sector will allow communication synergies with a €10.7 billion export food industry in international markets as well as on the home market.

In this regard, two national recommendations specifically targeted the seafood sector:

To prioritise the bringing of seafood under Bord Bia’s Origin Green programme

To adapt and enhance the existing independent third party verified standards to facilitate measurement of the environmental credentials of the seafood sector.

These targets and their role in Seafood sustainability and Labelling and certification schemes will be outlined.

Highlighted outcomes from the World Seafood Congress in Reykjavík Iceland 2017 -Based on inputs from Matis experts and chairs of sessions at the World Seafood Congress Increased international cooperation within the Blue Bioeconomy is key to sustainable use of the world’s aquatic resources for food production and other value creation as well as an improved […]

The Iceland Responsible Fisheries programme is a voluntary marketing tool serving the Icelandic fishing industry and the value chain in whole. The project was launched in 2008 and it includes promotion of origin and certification of Icelandic fisheries. The IRF Foundation (IRFF) owns the programme and takes care of the operation and certification, but Promote […]